READERS may be interested in the planning application for industrial units near Dorstone, and the various responses I received.

Some people may not be aware that several similar applications have been agreed by Herefordshire Council, over-riding the objections of local people.

For this application, in excess of 200 people have objected with some 50 in favour – mostly farmers.

Who decides? The planning committee made up of some 20 councillors, 20% of whom I believe are farmers. And when I objected to the farmers who I suggested might be biased, ‘nonsense’ was the reply I got.

So I wrote to 20 planning committee members (two replies), our councillor Philip Price (no reply), Mr M Tansley in planning services (no reply), Jesse Norman MP (no reply), Food Standards Agency (no reply).

The Dorstone plan concerns industrial chicken farms where some 80,000 chickens are kept in sheds and then gassed every six weeks to sell via supermarkets.

Around 65% of chickens in supermarkets can be infected with camplyobacter, which results in 250,000 cases of food poisoning per year and over 100 deaths.

Camplyobacter is only part of the problem. Traffic, smells, dust and problems with water and disposal of waste are others.

Isn’t it time we all started asking pertinent questions of our councillors?

A JONES Dorstone